Whicker: Woods, officials share the blame

And even if he wins it, a considerable slice of the golfing community will demand that his green jacket bear a yellow hazard stripe.

Ernie Els, asked about the rules error that Woods committed Friday and survived with a 2-stroke penalty, was tersely unequivocal.

"It's a one-off. I've never heard of anything like that, and I'll leave it at that," Els said Saturday.

Asked to elaborate, the reigning British Open champ said, "How long have you been around the game? I've been a pro now since 1989. I've never seen a guy sign for a scorecard and then come back and play the next day after a rules infringement.

"It's nothing against nobody. The rules of the game are there and have always been there. This has never, ever happened."

On The Golf Channel, Nick Faldo and Brandel Chamblee said they felt Woods should withdraw, rather than try to win his fifth Masters under shaky circumstances.

The outrage flowed like lava in several media platforms, but the blame was more like slippery elm, too thin to remain on one target.

Woods messed up, in more than one way. Masters officials were second-guessable too. The impenetrable Rules of Golf manual was also called into question.

The day ended with Woods trailing Angel Cabrera and Brandt Snedeker by four shots, after a 1-under-par 70 in the third round.

The saga, like no other, began on the 15th hole Friday.

Woods' third shot hit the pin and bounced back into the pond.

At that point he had three options. The drop zone was too wet. The route directly back from where the ball fell into the hazard was too cockeyed. The place where he hit his shot was just right.

So Woods took his drop. Having made that choice, Woods had to play the ball "as close as possible" to the original shot (rule 26-1c).

He did not. The ball was behind the original spot, maybe by a yard or two. Woods hit a delightful approach and wound up with bogey.

The Masters rules committee began receiving calls from spectators claiming that Woods acted illegally. They reviewed the tape and decided he had not. Therefore, he signed his card, blissfully ignorant to the questions.

That's when Woods engaged in one of his least favorite activities – speaking to the press.

He said he moved back "two yards" to get himself in better condition. Upon hearing that, rules committee chairman Fred Ridley and his mates reconvened and determined that Woods had violated Rule 20-7, which covers "hitting from the wrong place" and carries a 2-shot penalty.

"We noticed that the caddie (Joe LaCava) did not move from the original spot," Ridley said. "Tiger said he had told him to stay right there, But I didn't say anything, and he didn't tell me anything, that would lead me to believe he knowingly violated the rule."

The chain of miscalculations began with Woods.

There is no rules official walking with each group at the Masters, as in other majors, but it takes very little time to summon one. Woods didn't feel compelled to call one, but then at Abu Dhabi this year he found his ball imbedded in a sandy lie and didn't call an official either. He was given a penalty for playing it, and missed the cut.

"He did a great shot and got an unbelievably horrible break," Zach Johnson said. "He's chewing on that, and you've got to be so focused out here. And he's the best at handling those situations."

"If you have any doubt," Bo Van Pelt said, "you usually ask the guys you're playing with, and they'll usually say, hey, just call somebody."

But almost anywhere else in golf, the offending player would be counseled before he would be allowed to sign the card.

Woods was saved by a relatively new rule, 33-7. It gives "the committee" the discretion to waive the dreaded DQ, or "Dairy Queen" as the golfers call it, if there are "exceptional circumstances."

Els and perhaps other players evidently feel it should not depend on the exceptionality of the player.

Although Faldo and Chamblee seemed to think Woods would burnish his image by heroically withdrawing, Woods had no obligation, moral or otherwise, to do so.

Had the Masters acted more decisively, those cries would never have been heard.

"There's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I had done some things differently," Ridley said.

Depending on what golf's ultimate dramatist has in store, Sunday might be the most painful of such days.